Daily Archives: December 13, 2009
Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!!!! National Finals Rodeo
Well OTRR Fans, we are back from VEGAS!! Wow, what a trip!! I have been in Vegas since Sunday, December 5th and got back to the farm late last night. Guinness and my Heeling Hottie flew out to meet me on Tuesday and we had so much fun shopping at Country Christmas and Cowboy Marketplace, eating great food, and of course attending the National Finals Rodeo!! Some awesome moments of the trip were:
THE NATIONAL FINALS RODEO!!!!!!!!!! At the beginning of the rodeo when the Priefert Percherons came running into the Thomas and Mack Arena to the song Thunderstruck…..I about lost it. The energy in the Thomas and Mack and the lights and those horses………..it was incredible. I had goose bumps and still do just thinking about it. I will never forget that feeling.
RODEO VEGAS AT THE MIRAGE! It rocked! The music was great, the beer was cold and the atmosphere was very energetic. There were lots of contestants there and we also ran in to some old friends. It was a great time!
MCDONALDS AT THE LUXOR! I mean seriously….is there any better food at 2:00 in the morning? I don’t think so!!
COUNTRY CHRISTMAS AND COWBOY MARKETPLACE! Wow!! I think I could have walked through there 50 times!! However, we were all pretty good. We didn’t spend a lot of money. We all bought new boots and that was really about it….I spent too much at Congress in October..I was trying to be conservative. ha!
JACKIE JATZLAU AT COUNTRY CHRISTMAS! Guinness and I ran in to Jackie and let me tell you…………she is every bit as nice and as sweet as everyone says she is. I was so impressed with her. She talked to Guinness and I for about 30 minutes and she makes you feel like you have known her forever. Guiness had talked to Jackie several times through email but we had never met her in person. She is SOO pretty and so down to earth!! I loved getting to talk to her!
On Wednesday night Guinness, The Heeling Hottie and myself were having a beer at one of the bars in the Excalibur when Sue Smith walked in and sat down right next to us. She came in to watch the replay of the round that night, after she saw her round she headed out. Let me say this, I read recently that she is in her 50′s. She doesn’t look a day over 30!! She is a beautiful woman and getting to watch her live the next night was awesome!
Some reviews and thoughts on Vegas:
1. Vegas never sleeps, is always fun BUT I will say this…………the customer service in Sin City BLOWS!!!! You can almost get anything you want in Vegas but you may have to wait to get it. hahah! Not once did we have a waitress or a bartendar that was in a rush to help you. I ate at several five star resturaunts while I was there and even in those places the sevice was very slow. I think it is because that town never sleeps, so they assume that everyone is going to stay up all night so no one is in a hurry! hahaha
2. LUXOR Hotel: I stayed in the Luxor hotel because I was there for work for a couple of days and that was the host hotel. When I first arrived at the Luxor my room was not available so they put me in another room. This room was on the first floor of the Pyramid…..in other words…..you feel that you are underground. So for the first night I lived like a mole. Then I had my room changed to one of the towers. The Towers are definitley better than the pyrmaid. I thought the Luxor was a fine hotel to stay in, it is connected to the Excalibur, Mandalay Bay and THE Hotel…there is plenty of stuff to do and LOTS of places to eat. Of course the Cowboy Marketplace is in the Mandalay so it is easy to walk to.
3. Tacos & Tequilla: This resturaunt is in the Luxor hotel and serves GREAT mexican food and margaritas. The food is very reasonably priced for Vegas. The margaritas are awesome but expensive. We ate at this place twice and when we left both Guinness and Heelin’ Hottie were still talking about it. http://www.tacosandtequilalv.com/
4. Smith & Wollensky: Smith and Wollensky is an upscale resturaunt in Vegas. I took clients here and got high fives for how good this place was. They age thier own beef and they are known for their ribeye’s. Their steaks run about 50.00 a piece and are well worth it. Their portions are HUGE. The ribeye that I ordered was bigger than my head! Great place to eat! I would highly recommend it. http://www.smithandwollensky.com/about_us.htm
5. RM Seafood: INCREDIBLE! This place is very well known in NY and Rick Moonen recently opened this resturaunt in the Mandalay Bay. If you are a seafood or sushi fan…this is a MUST! I had the Garlic Tuna Sushi and Negi Tempura roll and it was to die for. http://www.rmseafood.com/welcome.html
Here is some video footage we took while we were out in the sin city! The Cowboy Marketplace, the Thomas and Mack and inside the 8th Round.
Vegas, Vegas, Vegas!!!! National Finals Rodeo *Video*
Well OTRR Fans, we are back from VEGAS!! Wow, what a trip!! I have been in Vegas since Sunday, December 5th and got back to the farm late last night. Guinness and my Heeling Hottie flew out to meet me on Tuesday and we had so much fun shopping at Country Christmas and Cowboy Marketplace, eating great food, and of course attending the National Finals Rodeo!! Some awesome moments of the trip were:
THE NATIONAL FINALS RODEO!!!!!!!!!! At the beginning of the rodeo when the Priefert Percherons came running into the Thomas and Mack Arena to the song Thunderstruck…..I about lost it. The energy in the Thomas and Mack and the lights and those horses………..it was incredible. I had goose bumps and still do just thinking about it. I will never forget that feeling.
RODEO VEGAS AT THE MIRAGE! It rocked! The music was great, the beer was cold and the atmosphere was very energetic. There were lots of contestants there and we also ran in to some old friends. It was a great time!
MCDONALDS AT THE LUXOR! I mean seriously….is there any better food at 2:00 in the morning? I don’t think so!!
COUNTRY CHRISTMAS AND COWBOY MARKETPLACE! Wow!! I think I could have walked through there 50 times!! However, we were all pretty good. We didn’t spend a lot of money. We all bought new boots and that was really about it….I spent too much at Congress in October..I was trying to be conservative. ha!
JACKIE JATZLAU AT COUNTRY CHRISTMAS! Guinness and I ran in to Jackie and let me tell you…………she is every bit as nice and as sweet as everyone says she is. I was so impressed with her. She talked to Guinness and I for about 30 minutes and she makes you feel like you have known her forever. Guiness had talked to Jackie several times through email but we had never met her in person. She is SOO pretty and so down to earth!! I loved getting to talk to her!
On Wednesday night Guinness, The Heeling Hottie and myself were having a beer at one of the bars in the Excalibur when Sue Smith walked in and sat down right next to us. She came in to watch the replay of the round that night, after she saw her round she headed out. Let me say this, I read recently that she is in her 50′s. She doesn’t look a day over 30!! She is a beautiful woman and getting to watch her live the next night was awesome!
Some reviews and thoughts on Vegas:
1. Vegas never sleeps, is always fun BUT I will say this…………the customer service in Sin City BLOWS!!!! You can almost get anything you want in Vegas but you may have to wait to get it. hahah! Not once did we have a waitress or a bartendar that was in a rush to help you. I ate at several five star resturaunts while I was there and even in those places the sevice was very slow. I think it is because that town never sleeps, so they assume that everyone is going to stay up all night so no one is in a hurry! hahaha
2. LUXOR Hotel: I stayed in the Luxor hotel because I was there for work for a couple of days and that was the host hotel. When I first arrived at the Luxor my room was not available so they put me in another room. This room was on the first floor of the Pyramid…..in other words…..you feel that you are underground. So for the first night I lived like a mole. Then I had my room changed to one of the towers. The Towers are definitley better than the pyrmaid. I thought the Luxor was a fine hotel to stay in, it is connected to the Excalibur, Mandalay Bay and THE Hotel…there is plenty of stuff to do and LOTS of places to eat. Of course the Cowboy Marketplace is in the Mandalay so it is easy to walk to.
3. Tacos & Tequilla: This resturaunt is in the Luxor hotel and serves GREAT mexican food and margaritas. The food is very reasonably priced for Vegas. The margaritas are awesome but expensive. We ate at this place twice and when we left both Guinness and Heelin’ Hottie were still talking about it. http://www.tacosandtequilalv.com/
4. Smith & Wollensky: Smith and Wollensky is an upscale resturaunt in Vegas. I took clients here and got high fives for how good this place was. They age thier own beef and they are known for their ribeye’s. Their steaks run about 50.00 a piece and are well worth it. Their portions are HUGE. The ribeye that I ordered was bigger than my head! Great place to eat! I would highly recommend it. http://www.smithandwollensky.com/about_us.htm
5. RM Seafood: INCREDIBLE! This place is very well known in NY and Rick Moonen recently opened this resturaunt in the Mandalay Bay. If you are a seafood or sushi fan…this is a MUST! I had the Garlic Tuna Sushi and Negi Tempura roll and it was to die for. http://www.rmseafood.com/welcome.html
Here is some video footage we took while we were out in the sin city! The Cowboy Marketplace, the Thomas and Mack and inside the 8th Round.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this VideoPress video.Bobby Mote is Worlds Best…
LAS VEGAS — Coming into the National Finals Rodeo, the chances of Culver cowboy Bobby Mote winning a third world title in bareback riding seemed remote.
Mote was $63,000 behind the leader in the world standings, who hadn’t been bucked off a horse all season.
But after an amazing 10 days in which he made up the gap with a series of brilliant performances, Mote is again the world bareback champion.
Mote needed only to stay on his ride for eight seconds to clinch his third world title, but he did much more than that in the 10th and final round. Mote rode Wonderland for 88.5 points to win the round, secure his first NFR average crown and take home the gold buckle. Mote finished $50,846 ahead of Clint Cannon after earning $139,880 in Las Vegas to Cannon’s $33,081. Before the NFR, Cannon set a regular-season earnings record for all Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events.
Mote tried his best not to think about what he needed to do in Round 10 heading into the final day, but it wasn’t easy.
“I’ve honestly tried since last night to not think about today too much, because you can build up quite a bit of anxiety,” said Mote, who set a bareback riding single-season earnings record with $310,219. “Last night, we got finished with the buckle ceremony and Charlie, my boy, came up to me and said, ‘Dad, mom told me not to tell you, but you’re winning the average by 15 points, and all you’ve got to do is stay on tomorrow.’ I said, ‘Charlie, that’s the last thing I need to hear.’ ”
Mote was thrilled to be able to overtake Cannon’s substantial lead thanks to a red-hot NFR.
“The last (world title) I won (in 2007), I had such a lead and had just an OK finals, and if it hadn’t been for Houston, I wouldn’t have won it,” Mote said. “This year, I was chasing Clint (Cannon). Clint won Houston and everything else all year long, went to 100 rodeos and out-rode and out-rodeoed everybody. I had the best chance coming in here to catch him, but it was a tall order. He had some stuff kind of hold him back this week, but he’ll be back. I just praise God that I’m here and that it ended up like it did.” (read more)
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10th Go Round Recap…..and World Champions!
LAS VEGAS — Trevor Brazile added two more gold buckles to his collection Saturday night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Brazile, from Decatur, Texas, matched the record of seven all-around titles held by Ty Murray and moved into a tie for third on the overall list with 11 gold buckles.
Brazile won his record-tying seventh all-around title with earnings of $346,779. The tie-down and team roper exceeded $300,000 for the record fourth straight year.
Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo., was second in the all-around with $245,068, and Clint Robinson of Spanish Fork, Utah, was third with $200,021.
In tie-down roping, Brazile won the world championship with $188,343. It was his second gold buckle in three years in the event.
“The calf roping went pretty good,” Brazile said. “I don’t have any regrets. I had a lead to protect, and I had different strategies.
“In team roping, we (header Brazile and heeler Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas) came out to win as much money as we could. We were first or second (on the earnings lists) in the last two years, and we were just coming in with some severe confidence. We worked hard, but nothing changed other than we had a couple bad breaks that didn’t go our way.”
Tuf Cooper of Decatur, Texas, won the aggregate title with a time of 84.5 seconds on 10 head and was second to Brazile in the world standings. Cooper just missed breaking Fred Whitfield’s 1997 record of 84.0 on 10 head.
Cooper also won the NFR earnings title with $87,356. He tied for second in round 10 with a time of 7.6, while Tyson Durfey of Colbert, Wash., won in 7.1. Brazile didn’t place with a time of 8.8.
In bareback riding, Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., took won the round with an 88.5 on Wonderland and claimed his third world championship with an event-record $310,219, the aggregate crown with 847 points over 10 rounds and the NFR earnings title with $139,879. Mote, who broke Will Lowe’s single-season earnings record of $280,227 set in 2006, had at least a share of first place in four of the last five rounds.
Clint Cannon of Waller, Texas, who set a PRCA record for most regular-season money in any event with $233,504, didn’t place with a 79 on Fancy Free in round 10 and finished second in the world standing with $266,585.
Mote won the aggregate race with 830 points on 10 rides.
“I’ve been here four times in the same situation in the 10th round when it was do or die, and I’ve done well a couple times and have messed up a couple times,” Mote said. “Having that experience sure enough helped, but it didn’t make it any easier.”
In steer wrestling, Lee Graves of Calgary, Alberta, claimed the world championship with an event-record $251,031, the aggregate score crown at 45.1 over 10 rounds and the NFR earnings title with $130,458. He was third in the round at 3.5.
Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., who led the aggregate score race and was second in the world standings after nine rounds, had a no-time when it was determined that he didn’t have his hand on the steer. He dropped to eighth in the aggregate race, but held on to second in the world with $200,186.
Graves broke Branquinho’s 2008 single-season money record.
“I feel bad about Luke,” Graves said. “He had some bad luck, but he opened the door for me and I capitalized on it. It actually put more pressure on me to go catch my steer and throw him down than actually do something.”
Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., and Jake Rinehart of Highmore, S.D., tied for first in the round with 3.4s.
In team roping, header Nick Sartain of Yukon, Okla., and heeler Kollin VonAhn of Durant, Okla., came from behind to claim the world championship with $186,689 for Sartain and $185,522 for VonAhn. The duo also claimed the aggregate score crown with a time of 59.2 over 10 rounds and the NFR earnings title with $106,292. (read more)
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Brittany Pozzi wins the World Championship, Sherry Cervi wins the Average
It definitely came down to the wire!!! Click here for Average Results
Way to go girls!!
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Trevor Brazile Wins Seventh All-Around Title
There is a new king of cowboys.
Trevor Brazile is the 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo champion and now seven-time All-Around World Champion Cowboy.
“Oh, man,” a relieved Brazile said afterwards. “The only day better than the 10th round is the day after the 10th round. It’s been a tough week.”…(read more)
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Jessie Kruse Wins World Championship at the 51st National Finals Rodeo
Jesse Kruse is the first Great Falls athlete to win a rodeo world championship.
The C.M. Russell High graduate earned an 84-point score for an eight-second ride Saturday night and claimed the saddle bronc world title as the 51st National Finals Rodeo concluded.
Kruse finished fifth in the 10th and final go-round, earning $4,423. The 23-year-old also finished fourth in the average, which factors all 10 NFR performances, to win another $20,733.
Kruse finished the 2009 pro rodeo season with earnings of $194,465. That was far ahead of runner-up Cody DeMoss ($169,739).
J.J. Elshere, who was bucked off Saturday night, finished third in the world standings with $167,996.
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